Filmmaker Josh Fox Speaks At SUNY New Paltz

Anti-fracking activist and filmmaker Josh Fox spoke to an audience at SUNY New Paltz last night, urging New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to ban fracking.

Gasland and Gasland 2 filmmaker Josh Fox, banjo in hand, spoke to a filled lecture hall at the State University of New York at New Paltz. His presentation came on the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy. Fox took the opportunity of the anniversary to tweet a photo of the New Paltz audience at Cuomo and President Obama, typing, “we're from New Paltz, #notfromgasland. #endclimatesilence.

Karen Moreau would like to see the opposite. She is executive director of the New York State Petroleum Council.

New York has a moratorium on fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, and is awaiting Cuomo’s decision on whether to ban the method of extracting natural gas from shale formations. A spokesman for the governor would say only that the matter is under review by the state Department of Environmental Conservation and state Department of Health, with no set timeline for a decision. Moreau says residents in New York’s Southern Tier are hurting economically.

Zimet, who has been working with Fox and other environmental activists, notes that her town has a fracking ban.

Fox’s presentation was sponsored by the SUNY New Paltz Environmental Task Force, yet organized by a newly-formed grassroots group. He was the first in what group members hope will become a series of speaker presentations on health and the environment.

Related Content

Tonight is the TV premiere of Gasland II, a sequel to the original anti- hydrofracking movie. In New York, where Governor Andrew Cuomo’s decision on fracking is still on hold, both opponents and supporters of fracking say the films have helped frame the debate.

Gasland, an Oscar nominated documentary, has become an often quoted and viewed source for those opposed to hydraulic fracturing for natural gas in New York and elsewhere, and has been soundly criticized by those who support the drilling.

It’s been nearly a year since the administration of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that the state health commissioner would conduct a review to determine whether hydrofracking could be done safely in New York. Since then, little information has been released on the on going study. Now, an anti-fracking group is suing the state to find out what exactly is being reviewed.

In the summer of 2008, then Governor David Paterson and the legislature imposed an actual moratorium in New York on the gas drilling process known as hydrofracking. After it expired, Governor Cuomo’s environmental agency began an extended review. That study has never been completed. For the past 10 months, a decision has been put on hold while Governor Cuomo’s health commissioner conducts what he says is a health review. No details have been revealed.

Brian Sampson, with the pro-business group Unshackle Upstate, calls it “paralysis by analysis.”

“It’s very disingenuous to the people to say that here we are five years later and we haven’t been able to make a decision,” Sampson said.